Ambivalence Abets Scandals Like Kohl's,
Amid Drives to Clean Up the Old System

By

Thomas Kamm, Cecilie Rohwedder and

Yaroslav Trofimov Staff Reporters of The Wall Street Journal

Updated Feb. 9, 2000 12:01 a.m. ET

As Helmut Kohl wrestles with a scandal that threatens to tarnish his legacy, the former German chancellor may find solace in the story of a French politician named Henri Emmanuelli.

A little more than two years ago, Mr. Emmanuelli's career was in tatters. Implicated in a political-financing scandal while treasurer of the Socialist Party, the former budget minister and speaker of France's National Assembly was handed a suspended...